Gospel. Luke ii. 22-32. At that time: After the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law: he also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace: because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.


Let us follow Mary, with the Child Jesus in her arms. When the time of purification had come, she went forth according to the law, to the Temple. For forty days the mother of a male child had to remain indoors, could associate with no one, and could touch nothing, because she was supposed to be impure. How is it possible that this lily of purity could be impure, when by God's interposition she still remained a virgin? But the humble virgin preferred to subject herself to the law, to appear impure in order that God's will should be respected. Humility is the great lesson we can learn from this conduct of Mary. The law obliged the woman, in the rite of purification, to offer a lamb and a pigeon, or if she were poor, she might offer two doves. Mary was poor, and therefore she offered the gift of the poor. She loved poverty and was not ashamed of it. We often consider poverty a disgrace; it makes us feel sad, and yet it makes us more like Mary, and also more like Jesus, who, though the Lord of heaven and earth, descended from heaven, and "being rich He became poor." St. Augustine calls poverty the gold with which heaven is purchased.

The law also provided that the first-born male child was to be consecrated to the Lord. The priest did this. He took the Child in his arms, and held Him up before the holy of holies. Jesus was God for He was the Son of God; the law of the Temple did not bind His holy Mother, but in her humility and her obedience she did not omit the least ceremony. This, my dear young friends, is also the duty of parents to their children; they should offer them from their earliest days to God's service. Instead of that, they often give their children to the devil by the bad example they give them. Poor children, who are thus constrained to drink in wickedness with their mother's milk! But if your parents have failed in their duty, you are obliged to do for yourself. As every first-fruit had to be offered to God, so you also should dedicate the first days of your life to His service. Have you made this offering to Him? Perhaps you have never thought of this obligation; perhaps you have already made a sacrilegious sacrifice to the devil by committing sin. If this be the case repent of the sin, offer your heart to Jesus, and He will purify it and inflame it with His holy love. Pray to Mary that she may make that offering for you.

In those days there was in Jerusalem a holy man named Simeon, who had had a revelation from the Holy Ghost that he would not see death until he had seen with his own eyes the Redeemer and Messias. Led by divine inspiration he was going to the Temple, and there he met Mary with the Child. An interior voice told him that this was the Child whom he sought, this was the Redeemer. The holy old man seemed to regain his youth and strength. He asked that the Child be placed in his arms, and having kissed and embraced Him, Simeon raised his eyes to heaven, and broke out into this beautiful canticle of love: "Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation. Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all the people. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people, Israel." Happy indeed was Simeon to have seen the Child Jesus, and after that great favor he was glad and ready to die. My dear youthful friends, do we, who have Our Lord continually present on our altars, feel the joy of the possession of Christ? Do we feel it as a reality, and not merely as something that we are obliged to believe? With what difficulty are we induced to pay Him a visit at the altar, and when in church how distracted and careless we are! Then, too, that same Jesus comes into our heart in communion, a grace that Simeon did not have. That loving Jesus tells us to come to Him and He will comfort us; but we are very sparing of our visits, and some of us do not go near Him in months or even years. If the priest should distribute money or fruit at the altar what crowds would come for the gift, but because Christ's body is distributed, few come to receive it.

You surely will not be ungrateful to so much love. Visit Him, adore Him, receive Him into your heart, and then when Jesus has been your comfort in life, He will be your consolation in death. He will come to visit you on your death-bed; He will bless you and be your viaticum on the great journey to eternity. Then indeed will you break forth into those inspired words of old Simeon: Now I will die content and close my eyes in peace, since I have seen the Lord, who has comforted me. Soon these mortal eyes will be closed in death, but the eyes of my soul shall be opened, and I shall behold my beloved Jesus for all eternity.

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